Manchester United cannot afford to have any fit players sitting in the stands.
Louis van Gaal has been impressed with Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s introduction to the senior side.
The Dutch teenager made his debut in the 3-2 home win over Arsenal, late last month, and has since played against Watford [starting centre back] and West Brom [off the bench].
Going into a crucial stretch of cup games, Van Gaal will not be able to call on the 18-year-old for either of the Europa League ties with Liverpool, starting at Anfield tonight.
Fosu-Mensah is fully fit, and has yet to feature in Europe this season. Hence, he is neither cup-tied or suspended.
The red-tape holding up the academy star’s European bow is the fact that he is not considered home-grown.
Van Gaal named a 31-man Europa League A-list squad earlier this year. That list includes the likes of Donald Love, Will Keane, Paddy McNair and Regan Poole.
Fosu-Menshaw was signed from Ajax in 2014 so has not been with the United youth set-up long enough to be considered home-grown. Players must be in a club’s youth system for at least three years to be awarded that status.
Van Gaal could include any home-grown academy player he liked, with dispensation from Uefa, but Fosu-Mensah is still considered an import.
As it stands, he sits out the two-legged Europa affair but will hope to be in the squad for this weekend’s FA Cup tie with West Ham.
